Microsoft to acquire LinkedIn for $26.2 Billion

Microsoft buys the popular and fastest growing professional social network LinkedIn for $26.2 billion. Yesterday, Microsoft Corp. has announced that they have made an agreement with LinkedIn corp. to buy LinkedIn for $196 per share in an all-cash transaction valued at $26.2 billion in cash. This is one of the biggest acquisition in its history, and this deal will be closed this calendar year. Though Microsoft plans to acquire LinkedIn, LinkedIn still retain its won brand and independence, and Jeff Weiner, the co-founder and CEO of LinkedIn, will remain the CEO for LinkedIn corp, and he will be reporting to Satya Nadella, the CEO of Microsoft.

Satya Nadella said about this acquisition in an interview on Monday with Jeff Weiner,

“The LinkedIn team has grown a fantastic business centered on connecting the world’s professionals. Together we can accelerate the growth of LinkedIn, as well as Microsoft Office 365 and Dynamics as we seek to empower every person and organization on the planet.”

“Just as we have changed the way the world connects to opportunity, this relationship with Microsoft, and the combination of their cloud and LinkedIn’s network, now gives us a chance to also change the way the world works,” Weiner said. “For the last 13 years, we’ve been uniquely positioned to connect professionals to make them more productive and successful, and I’m looking forward to leading our team through the next chapter of our story.”

After the acquisition of Skype, Nokia, and partnership with Ubuntu, LinkedIn acquisition is the first biggest acquisition of Satya nadella after taking charge as CEO in Microsoft.